Why Don’t Gay Porn Stars Stop Working When A Straight Porn Star Tests HIV+?
Yesterday, porn industry trade group Free Speech Coalition called for another three-day production moratorium after another performer allegedly tested HIV-positive. It’s not known whether the performer is male or female, or what side of the industry he/she works on (although straight porn blogger Mike South says it’s a crossover male performer), but when the FSC calls for a production shutdown, shouldn’t that apply to all porn studios—gay and straight?
The FSC tells me that the hold should apply to all but, of course, it doesn’t. Not a single gay porn studio has stopped filming because of the FSC’s press release about the possible exposure. The FSC also tells me that they consider “GLBT” and straight porn part of the same industry, so why don’t the same rules apply to both?
Given the rise in male crossover performers (which has been largely enabled by straight-owned studios like Kink and its myriad of sub-sites), why aren’t gay studios expected to adhere to the FSC’s recommendations? And, shouldn’t the FSC take a more active role in condemning those studios that don’t? Are straight porn performers more worthy of protection than gay porn performers? If testing alone and no condoms—the FSC and the straight porn industry’s Holy Grail of STD prevention—is so effective, why don’t all gay porn studios employ the same strategy? I’m not saying every gay porn studio should, given the number of openly HIV-positive performers on the “gay side” of the industry (who I believe should be allowed to work, safely, just like everyone else), but there’s an obvious and glaring disconnect between the FSC’s guidelines for “all adult sets” and what’s actually going on in the industry for individual performers, especially gay-for-payers who work on both sides.
